The Obama administration has not had much success enlisting the Iraqi government and armed forces as its main bulwark against ISIS, which is forcing it to refocus on the Syrian theatre, where the left-wing Kurdish militias in the north of the country have been the most effective ground forces engaging the radical Islamists in combat.
The administration's central objective, however, is to draw the Turkish army into the fight. This will necessarily require concessions to the Erdogan government which wants to eliminate both the Assad regime and the Kurdish independence movement.
According to CNN, the Obama administration is stepping up diplomatic efforts with Russia, Iran, and the Gulf states to ease Assad from power, and, more ominously, is considering giving the Turks a free hand to invade the autonomous Kurdish regions inside Syria and establish a protectorate in the guise of a "no-fly" zone.